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PROVO, Utah (Nov. 1, 2006) -- BYU senior quarterback John Beck has been named as a finalist for the 2006 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award. The prestigious award is presented annually to the nation's top senior collegiate quarterback by the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Educational Foundation, Inc. Beck joins Houston's Kevin Kolb, Notre Dame's Brady Quinn, Ohio State's Troy Smith and Michigan State's Drew Stanton as finalists for the award. The finalists were selected by a committee of football experts from across the United States.
"It is a great honor for John to be recognized as one of the top-five senior quarterbacks in the country," BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall said. "I'm sure John will be the first to tell you that this is an honor he shares with and credits to his teammates. I've said this before; his performance this season—on and off the field—is a reflection of the direction this program is heading. John continues to work hard and is extremely focused. He continues to exhibit solid leadership as the quarterback of this football team and as a team captain."
The 2006 recipient will be announced December 1, 2006, with the award presentation to be made December 8, 2006 at the Tremont Grand Meeting & Banquet Facility in downtown Baltimore, Maryland. The Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award was established in 1987, and has previously honored 19 outstanding young men.
In his final season at BYU, Beck has led the Cougars to a 6-2 record through eight games, including a perfect 4-0 mark in league play. Sitting atop the Mountain West Conference with a two-game lead in the standings, Beck is the league's all-time touchdown completions leader with 67, including a league-high 20 TD completions this season. He also leads the MWC in passing with 2,068 yards and ranks fourth nationally with a 295.43 yards-per-game average -- the highest per-game average of any senior quarterback in the country. He is also the nation's most accurate senior quarterback, connecting on 70.87 percent of his attempts.
Beck, who will graduate in December with a degree in communications., has been named the Mountain West Conference Offensive Player of the Week four different times this season, including after last week's 33-14 win at Air Force. Beck completed 23-of-31 attempts for 258 yards and three touchdowns against the Falcons. He posted a completion percentage of 74 percent en route to his fifth three-touchdown performance of the season, including his fourth straight game with three or more touchdown completions. The Beck-led offense engineered points in six of the seven drives he played on the day, including a 14-play, 81-yard drive to mark the fourth straight game BYU has scored on its opening drive.
"He's the best I've ever played against—and that goes against Cal's old quarterback (Aaron Rogers) and (former Utah quarterback) Alex Smith," Air Force safety Bobby Giannini said. "He looks you off, he knows defenses and he's just an excellent quarterback."
Following the Cougars' 52-7 victory over UNLV on October 21, Beck was named the Cingular All-America Player of the Week. He connected on 18-of-23 attempts for 250 yards and four touchdown passes in just three quarters of play. A week earlier, Beck completed 16-of-21 attempts for 267 yards and a season-high four touchdowns in under three quarters of play in BYU's 47-17 win over San Diego State. He finished the game with a career-high efficiency rating of 245.9, marking the highest rating by a BYU quarterback since Steve Sarkisian posted a 260.8 rating against Rice in 1996.
San Diego State head coach Chuck Long said his secondary was tested against the Beck-led offense.
"We were facing a great quarterback and an excellent offense," Long said after BYU's 30-point win. We had a lot of you secondary in there. What a baptism that is—playing against one of the best QB's in the country."
On October 2, Beck was named the Mountain West's top offensive player after guiding the Cougars to a dominating, 31-17, victory over 15th-ranked TCU in Fort Worth to end the Horned Frogs' nation's leading 13-game win streak. Beck completed 23-of-37 attempts for 312 yards and three touchdowns. The win marked BYU's first on the road over a ranked opponent since the 1997 season. After leading BYU to a 10-3 lead in the first half, Beck came back to rack up 205 second-half yards on 11-of-18 attempts to outdistance TCU.
"You just don't know how perfect that quarterback was," TCU head coach Gary Patterson said at the time. "I said before the ballgame he was the best quarterback we'd faced since last year when we faced him, and it's still true. The guy's a good player."
Beck, a native of Mesa, Ariz., also received the league's top weekly honor after a heart-breaking loss at No. 23 Boston College on Sept. 16. Beck threw for a season-high 436 yards, completing 38-of-59 attempts in the Cougars' double-overtime loss to the Eagles. Beck had one touchdown completion and added a rushing touchdown during the first quarter that gave BYU an early 7-0 lead.
In addition to honoring the top senior quarterback in the country, the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Educational Foundation, Inc., has awarded more than $500,000 in scholarships to deserving scholar athletes from high schools in both Kentucky and Maryland.
The namesake of the award has a storied history which has earned him the recognition of being the Greatest Quarterback to ever play in the NFL.
An 18-year veteran of the NFL, Unitas played his collegiate career at the University of Louisville (1951-1954), passing for 3007 yds and 27 TDs. Unitas, who wore #19 as a professional, had his # 16 collegiate uniform retired at Louisville, the lone number retired by the Cardinals.
Johnny Unitas began his 18 year pro career with the Baltimore Colts in 1958 and played there until joining the San Diego Chargers for his final season. His career passing figures are mind boggling. He completed 2,830 of 5,186 passes for 40,239 yds and 290 TDs during his 18 year NFL career. Among his many records is one that may stand forever, throwing a touchdown pass in 47 consecutive games.
Unitas was recently selected as the top quarterback of all-time by the Pro Football Hall of Fame 36 member selection committee. In commemorating the NFL's 25th, 50th and 75th anniversaries, he was also honored as the "Greatest Quarterback of All Time." A Pro Bowl participant 10 times and a three time Most Valuable Player honoree, Unitas was inducted into the Professional Football Hall of Fame in 1979. In turn of the century listings, Johnny was featured among Sports Illustrated's top-ten athletes, Time Magazine's ten most influential athletes and in ESPN's series on the 50 Greatest Athletes of the Century.
Beck is the third quarterback from BYU to be named a finalist for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award. Ty Detmer and Steve Sarkisian were also honored by the foundation as one of the nation's top-five senior quarterbacks.
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